02

Sep

Can young people afford a future in Illinois?

Many young people today are asking themselves if they should continue living in Illinois. Whether they are with their family or hanging out with friends, these questions never cease to be asked and millenials have reservations over there future in Illinois.

One of the main reasons is the financial challenges the state is facing. As of now, the state has an unfunded pension liability that stands at 130 billion dollars. In addition, it has a debt of 15 billion dollars. Although the state has a budget, the fact is that it still has to pay its debt.

For the average person in Illinois, it may be difficult to understand or think of these figures. To be able to pay this debt, the state has to take an extra 20 dollars or more from everyone’s paycheck.

Chicago and Cook County which are some of the most developed areas in Illinois are not any better. The city alone owes billions of dollars in debt and unfunded pension obligations. It is a common fact that Chicago schools are struggling each day to stay open. In Cook County, workers in there hundreds have been laid off to balance the budget.

Schools are making budget plans every new month and much of it involves borrowing more and more. When young people think of spending their future in Illinois, they become frightened since it is scary due to what appears as an economic collapse of the state.

The State is in a frenzy of over borrowing including funding infrastructure projects. Millenials interpret this meaning that there hard work will result into filling up to someone’s mistake, in this case the current leaders of Chicago who continue to do the same mistakes. Today, any child born in Illinois will be born in debt.

Many urban millenials in Illinois today don’t own a house, don’t have kids and are not married. In addition, they don’t have cars. Their main contributions to the local government come from their income and value added tax which both in the last one and a half years have gone up. Property taxes have increased and rent has continued to scale high.

If one is smart, they can see the little ways the city, country and state squeeze even the small amount of money one remains with through parking fees, higher water bills, garbage, sewage, bottled and bag water taxes, speeding and running red lights which are higher when compared to other states.

Millenials are confused about their future in Illinois. Many ask whether it is worth it. Even those who plan to have families someday acknowledge the fact that it won’t be easier like yesteryears. If one wants to own a car, a house and have kids, the main questions that continues to gnaw them is how they will afford it in what is turning to become one of the most expensive states to live in.

If there is any hope for the future, it is important that the negligence and mismanagement that plagues Illinois to come to an abrupt end. Still, millenials who were born in Illinois would want to live there.

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